Dwellings in the borderland: a study of traditional hill settlements in the Chittagong Hill Tracts of Bangladesh

Bangladesh, like other developing Asian countries, is undergoing rapid urbanisation and deep socio-economic changes. The Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) region in the eastern part of the country has always been a unique area. It is characterised by the presence of diverse highland groups, each with its own language, culture and settlement patterns. The region, once isolated and not well researched, is now experiencing increasing transmigrations and urbanisation. The urban form of local traditional towns, affected by socio-economic changes, is at a risk of losing some of the spatial patterns that provide their sense of place. This paper discusses the background and complexities of CHT, at the edge of different cultural and political regions, and thus provides preliminary understanding of the traditional settlements in this region. A spatial analysis of selected urban areas has been based on qualitative data. This paper aims to discuss a methodological framework to inform a data collection process about morphological patterns in culturally diverse regions. It suggests that this methodological framework could have useful applications in investigating geographic areas with similar social and ethnic complexities